Game Dice with Two Attribute Indicia

ABSTRACT

A set of N game dice, each of the N dice having at least N faces with each of N faces of each die bearing one of a group of N 2  design markings. The group of N 2  design markings is formed by the combination of each of N values of a first attribute series with each of N values of a second attribute series. The N 2  design markings are divided into N subgroups such that each attribute value of each attribute series comprises only one design marking in each of the subgroups. The N design markings of each subgroup are borne by a multiple of N faces of a different die. Each design marking is borne by the same multiple of faces.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of provisional patent applicationSer. No. 61/352,764, filed Jun. 8, 2010, by the present inventor.

BACKGROUND Prior Art

The following is a tabulation of some prior art that presently appearsrelevant:

U.S. Patents

U.S. Pat. No. Issue Date Patentee 4,258,919 1981 Mar. 31 Martelli4,436,306 1984 Mar. 13 Sanders 5,125,660 1992 Jun. 30 Stahl 5,169,1481992 Dec. 08 Wheeler 7,871,077 B2 2011 Jan. 18 Culvert 6,764,075 B2 2004Jul. 20 Nigale 4,585,232 1986 Apr. 29 Sheppard and Darnell 6,659,868 B22003 Dec. 09 Stern 4,930,788 1990 Jun. 05 Roccanova 5,249,808 1993 Oct.05 Batté 4,312,508 1982 Jan. 26 Wood 5,364,101 1994 Nov. 15 Spooner andSpooner

Dice have often been used as elements of games. Such games take manyforms, including those where the dice are elements of a stand-alone dicegame and others where, for example, the dice are one element of a gameconsisting of many elements.

Dice have usually been used to randomly generate outcomes for use in agame by throwing or rolling the dice onto a surface. The use of dice forthis purpose is so familiar to game players that many computer and videogames provide the digital equivalent of rolling dice.

Decks of playing cards are also commonly used to randomly generateoutcomes for use in games. There is a significant difference in thenature of the probability distributions of the outcomes between rollingdice and dealing cards. Each card in a deck and, equivalently, each dieface in a set of dice is a possible outcome. When a card is dealt from adeck, its outcome is removed from the set of remaining possibleoutcomes. When one die from a dice set is rolled, the upper horizontalface presents the outcome. However, not only is this outcome removedfrom the set of remaining possible outcomes, but so are the potentialoutcomes present on the other faces of the rolled die. This physicaldifference in how the outcomes are grouped and generated for dice on theone hand and cards on the other is the source for the difference in thenature of the probability distributions or statistics of cards and dice.

Playing cards and the faces of dice have design markings or indicia thatconvey information relevant to the various games. These design markingstypically have one or more attributes. The design markings onconventional dice faces have one attribute type: the number of dots. Forconventional dice the series of attribute values or elements is R={onedot, two dots, three dots, four dots, five dots, six dots}. Conventionalplaying cards, often used for the game of poker, having design markingswith two attribute types: rank and suit. For such a deck of cards, theseries of attribute values for rank is R={A, K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5,4, 3, 2} and the series of attribute values for suit is S={spade, heart,clubs, diamond}. The familiar playing card design markings are formedwith a value selected from each of the two attribute series, rank andsuit. Forming every possible combination of the thirteen rank attributevalues with the four suit attribute values results in the familiar setof fifty-two different design markings.

Conventional dice are cubical blocks bearing a pattern of dots on eachface to indicate a numerical value from one to six. As discussed, thissingle attribute of die face markings is to be contrasted withconventional playing cards that bear markings with two attribute typessuch as suit and rank or color and numerical value. The use of a singleattribute limits the complexity and variety of games based onconventional dice compared to games based on conventional playing cards,where two attributes contribute to game play.

A set of dice have an advantage over a deck of cards in that it iseasier and quicker to generate new random outcomes. The set of dice onlyneed to be rolled, where as a deck of cards needs to be shuffled priorto cards being dealt. This has prompted the creation of dice games thatare analogs to familiar card games.

In attempts to combine the advantages of cards and dice, prior artincludes examples of incorporating a second attribute type into diceface design markings. Many of these examples are poker-related orbest-hand dice games, which include the dice game Yacht and itsvariations.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,258,919 to Martelli (1981) disclosed a set of fivesix-sided poker dice with design markings comprised of six ranks andfive suits. The rank attribute values are distributed uniformly acrossthe dice, in that each rank attribute value is present on one of thefaces of each die, while the suit attribute values are not distributedin a uniform manner. A similar distribution of design markings,comprised of six numerical values and five colors, across five machineequivalent six-sided dice, is used in the Ultimate Yahtzee™ computergame (Hasbro, 1996). U.S. Pat. No. 4,436,306 to Sanders (1984) discloseda set of five eight-sided Yacht dice with design markings comprised ofeight numerical values and five colors. The numerical values aredistributed uniformly across the dice, while the colors are not. U.S.Pat. No. 5,125,660 to Stahl (1992) disclosed a set of five six-sidedpoker dice with design markings comprised of seven rank values and foursuit values on twenty-eight faces and ‘joker’ on the remaining twofaces. In this example, neither the rank nor the suit attribute valuesare distributed uniformly. U.S. Pat. No. 5,169,148 to Wheeler (1992)disclosed a set of thirteen four-sided poker dice with design markingscomprised of thirteen rank values and four suit values. In this example,the suit attribute values are distributed uniformly, while the rankattribute values are not. U.S. Pat. No. 7,871,077 B2 disclosed a set ofnine six-sided poker dice with design markings comprised of thirteenrank values and four suit values on fifty-two die faces and ‘joker’design marking on the two remaining die faces. In this example, neitherthe rank nor the suit attribute values are distributed uniformly.

Phase 10™ Dice (Fundex Games, 2008) is an example of a dice game basedon a non-poker card game. The dice set is comprised of ten six-sideddice with design markings comprised of eleven rank attribute values,numerical values one through ten and the letter W, and four colorattribute values. Neither the rank nor the color attribute values aredistributed uniformly.

The prior art also has examples of dice sets where the die face designmarkings have more than a single attribute and the dice game is notrelated to a conventional card game. U.S. Pat. No. 6,764,075 B2 toNigale (2004) discloses a game that uses a six-sided die with the sixface design markings formed by every combination of two colors withthree numerical values. U.S. Pat. No. 4,585,232 to Sheppard and Darnell(1986) disclosed a game the uses two six-sided dice with twelve die facedesign markings formed by every combination of three colors and fournumerical values. The color attribute values and the numerical valuesare not distributed uniformly between the two dice.

Also prevalent in the prior art are dice sets in which the die facedesign markings on each die are formed from a series of attributevalues, such as numerical value or shape, and a single element of asecond attribute series, such as color, is applied to all the faces of agiven die. Examples are conventional dice in which the dice cubes arefabricated using plastics with different pigments. Such dice compriseelements of the game disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,659,868 B2 to Stern(2003). Closely related is the example of the Qwirkle™ Cubes game (MindWare, 2009). In this example, the body of the dice are all the samecolor, each die bearing design markings of six shape values in a singlecolor selected from a series of six colors.

Of relevance are examples of dice sets in which the faces of each diehave design markings comprised of a single different attribute type.U.S. Pat. No. 4,930,788 and U.S. Pat. No. U.S. Pat. No. 5,249,808disclose games that have such dice as elements.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,312,508 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,364,101 both discloseexamples of dice in which a second attribute, such as color, is added toa first attribute, such as numerical value or alphabetic letter, in sucha way that the number of different die face design markings is notincreased. The second attribute serves to either break the firstattribute series into groups or to provide additional visual distinctionfor the first attribute.

Disadvantages:

One of the characteristics of a set of multiple conventional dice isthat the distribution of potential outcomes is the same for any subsetof the dice as it is for the whole set. For example, for a set ofconventional dice, the fraction of potential outcomes, that is diefaces, that show three dots, is the same, one sixth, regardless of howmany dice are being considered. When using the two attribute dice of theprior art, rolling one or more dice from the set results in changing thedistribution of the two attributes amongst the remaining potentialoutcomes. It is the non-uniform distribution of the values of at leastone of the attributes amongst the dice of the prior art that causes thisundesirable trait. In actual game play, this undesirable aspect willcause delays as the players evaluate what outcomes are possible. Thisdegrades the advantage of quick play that dice games have over cardgames.

Any of dual attribute dice sets of the prior art is designed for use ina specific game and is unsuitable to be used in a range of game types.For example, the poker dice of the prior art are unsuitable for the dicegame analogs of trick-taking or card-shedding card games.

SUMMARY

In accordance with one embodiment a dual attribute dice set comprises aset of N dice, each die with N faces, for a total of N² die faces in theset. A group of N² design markings is formed by combining each of Nvalues of one attribute type with each of N values of a second attributetype. Each die face bears a different design marking that have beendistributed among the dice such that each attribute value of eachattribute type appears in only one of the N design markings on each die.

Advantages

Accordingly several advantages of one or more aspects are as follows: toprovide two attribute dice sets that may be used in a multitude of gametypes, that provide a balanced distribution of attribute values, leadingto easier game state evaluation and, hence, quicker play. Otheradvantages of one or more aspects, such as the possibility of novel dicegame types, will be apparent from a consideration of the drawings andensuing description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 is a representation of an embodiment in which the number of diceis six, the number of faces on each die is six, the first attribute isthe number of dots, and the second attribute is the color of dots.

FIG. 2 is a representation of an embodiment in which the number of diceis six, the number of faces on each die is six, the first attribute isrank (A, K, Q, J, 10, 9), and the second attribute is suit (club, spade,heart, diamond, crown, anchor).

FIG. 3 is a representation of an embodiment in which the number of diceis six, the number of faces on each die is six, the first attribute isrank (A, K, Q, J, 10, 9), and the second attribute is colored suit (cluband black design marking, spade and black design marking, heart and reddesign marking, diamond and red design marking, crown and blue designmarking, anchor and blue design marking).

FIG. 4 is a representation of an embodiment in which the number of diceis six, the number of faces on each die is six, the first attribute isnumeric value (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6), and the second attribute is expressionof numeric value (number of dots, English word, Arabic numeral, Romannumeral, Chinese numeral, binary).

FIG. 5 is a representation of an embodiment in which the number of diceis four, the number of faces on each die is eight, the first attributeis numeral (1, 2, 3, 4), the second attribute is color (color A, colorB, color C, color D), and each different design marking appears on twofaces of the die bearing the design marking.

FIG. 6 is a representation of an embodiment in which the number of diceis five, the number of faces on each die is six, the first attribute issymbol, the second attribute is color (color A, color B, color C, colorD, color E), and one face of each die bears a common design marking.

FIG. 7 is a representation of an embodiment in which the number of diceis four, the number of faces on each die is six, the first attribute isquantity of dots, the second attribute is color of dots, one face ofeach die bears a first common design marking, and a second face of eachdie bears a second common design marking.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 shows a representation of a first embodiment. In this embodiment,the dice set consists of six dice. These dice have cubic shapes with sixdie faces. The first design marking attribute R is number of dots andthe second design marking attribute S is color of dots. The firstattribute values are R={one dot, two dots, three dots, four dots, fivedots, six dots}, and the second attribute values are S={color A, colorB, color C, color D, color E, color F}. From the six values of the firstattribute series and the six values of the second attribute series,thirty-six different die face design markings are formed by combiningone of the six values of the first attribute series with one of the sixvalues of the second attribute series. These thirty-six different dieface design markings are distributed on the faces of the dice asfollows. The first die of the dice set bears the following designmarkings on its die faces: on the first face, one dot of color A; on thesecond face, two dots of color B; on the third face, three dots of colorC; on the fourth face, four dots of color D; on the fifth face, fivedots of color E; and, on the sixth face, six dots of color F. The seconddie of the dice set bears the following design markings on its diefaces: on the first face, one dot of color D; on the second face, twodots of color A; on the third face, three dots of color B; on the fourthface, four dots of color E; on the fifth face, five dots of color F;and, on the sixth face, six dots of color C. The third die of the diceset bears the following design markings on its die faces: on the firstface, one dot of color E; on the second face, two dots of color D; onthe third face, three dots of color A; on the fourth face, four dots ofcolor F; on the fifth face, five dots of color C; and, on the sixthface, six dots of color B. The fourth die of the dice set bears thefollowing design markings on its die faces: on the first face, one dotof color B; on the second face, two dots of color C; on the third face,three dots of color F; on the fourth face, four dots of color A; on thefifth face, five dots of color D; and, on the sixth face, six dots ofcolor E. The fifth die of the dice set bears the following designmarkings on its die faces: on the first face, one dot of color C; on thesecond face, two dots of color F; on the third face, three dots of colorE; on the fourth face, four dots of color B; on the fifth face, fivedots of color A; and, on the sixth face, six dots of color D. The sixthdie of the dice set bears the following design markings on its diefaces: on the first face, one dot of color F; on the second face, twodots of color E; on the third face, three dots of color D; on the fourthface, four dots of color C; on the fifth face, five dots of color B;and, on the sixth face, six dots of color A. Colors A, B, C, D, E and Fmay be red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple, respectively.

FIG. 2 shows a representation of a second embodiment. In thisembodiment, the dice set consists of six dice. These dice have cubicshapes with six die faces. The first design marking attribute R is rankand the second design marking attribute S is suit. The first attributevalues are R={A, K, Q, J, 10, 9}, and the second attribute values areS={club, spade, heart, diamond, crown, anchor}. From the six values ofthe first attribute series and the six values of the second attributeseries, thirty-six different die face design markings are formed bycombining one of the six values of the first attribute series with oneof the six values of the second attribute series. These thirty-sixdifferent die face design markings are distributed on the faces of thedice as follows. The first die of the dice set bears the followingdesign markings on its die faces: on the first face, A of clubs; on thesecond face, K of spades; on the third face, Q of crowns; on the fourthface, J of anchors; on the fifth face, 10 of hearts; and, on the sixthface, 9 of diamonds. The second die of the dice set bears the followingdesign markings on its die faces: on the first face, A of spades; on thesecond face, K of clubs; on the third face, Q of anchors; on the fourthface, J of crowns; on the fifth face, 10 of diamonds; and, on the sixthface, 9 of hearts. The third die of the dice set bears the followingdesign markings on its die faces: on the first face, A of hearts; on thesecond face, K of diamonds; on the third face, Q of clubs; on the fourthface, J of spades; on the fifth face, 10 of crowns; and, on the sixthface, 9 of anchors. The fourth die of the dice set bears the followingdesign markings on its die faces: on the first face, A of diamonds; onthe second face, K of hearts; on the third face, Q of spades; on thefourth face, J of clubs; on the fifth face, 10 of anchors; and, on thesixth face, 9 of crowns. The fifth die of the dice set bears thefollowing design markings on its die faces: on the first face, A ofcrowns; on the second face, K of anchors; on the third face, Q ofhearts; on the fourth face, J of diamonds; on the fifth face, 10 ofclubs; and, on the sixth face, 9 of spades. The sixth die of the diceset bears the following design markings on its die faces: on the firstface, A of anchors; on the second face, K of crowns; on the third face,Q of diamonds; on the fourth face, J of hearts; on the fifth face, 10 ofspades; and, on the sixth face, 9 of clubs.

FIG. 3 shows a representation of a third embodiment. In this embodiment,the dice set consists of six dice. These dice have cubic shapes with sixdie faces. The first design marking attribute R is rank and the seconddesign marking attribute S is colored suit. The first attribute valuesare R={A, K, Q, J, 10, 9}, and the second attribute values are S={cluband black design marking, spade and black design marking, heart and reddesign marking, diamond and red design marking, crown and blue designmarking, anchor and blue design marking}. From the six values of thefirst attribute series and the six values of the second attributeseries, thirty-six different die face design markings are formed bycombining one of the six values of the first attribute series with oneof the six values of the second attribute series. These thirty-sixdifferent die face design markings are distributed on the faces of thedice as follows. The first die of the dice set bears the followingdesign markings on its die faces: on the first face, black A of clubs;on the second face, black K of spades; on the third face, blue Q ofcrowns; on the fourth face, blue J of anchors; on the fifth face, red 10of hearts; and, on the sixth face, red 9 of diamonds. The second die ofthe dice set bears the following design markings on its die faces: onthe first face, black A of spades; on the second face, black K of clubs;on the third face, blue Q of anchors; on the fourth face, blue J ofcrowns; on the fifth face, red 10 of diamonds; and, on the sixth face,red 9 of hearts. The third die of the dice set bears the followingdesign markings on its die faces: on the first face, red A of hearts; onthe second face, red K of diamonds; on the third face, black Q of clubs;on the fourth face, black J of spades; on the fifth face, blue 10 ofcrowns; and, on the sixth face, blue 9 of anchors. The fourth die of thedice set bears the following design markings on its die faces: on thefirst face, red A of diamonds; on the second face, red K of hearts; onthe third face, black Q of spades; on the fourth face, black J of clubs;on the fifth face, blue 10 of anchors; and, on the sixth face, blue 9 ofcrowns. The fifth die of the dice set bears the following designmarkings on its die faces: on the first face, blue A of crowns; on thesecond face, blue K of anchors; on the third face, red Q of hearts; onthe fourth face, red J of diamonds; on the fifth face, black 10 ofclubs; and, on the sixth face, black 9 of spades. The sixth die of thedice set bears the following design markings on its die faces: on thefirst face, blue A of anchors; on the second face, blue K of crowns; onthe third face, red Q of diamonds; on the fourth face, red J of hearts;on the fifth face, black 10 of spades; and, on the sixth face, black 9of clubs.

FIG. 4 shows a representation of a fourth embodiment. In thisembodiment, the dice set consists of six dice. These dice have cubicshapes with six die faces. The first design marking attribute R isnumeric value and the second design marking attribute S is expression ofa numeric value. The first attribute values are R={1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6},and the second attribute values are S={number of dots, English word,Arabic numeral, Roman numeral, Chinese numeral, binary}. From the sixvalues of the first attribute series and the six values of the secondattribute series, thirty-six different die face design markings areformed by combining one of the six values of the first attribute serieswith one of the six values of the second attribute series. Thesethirty-six different die face design markings are distributed on thefaces of the dice as follows. The first die of the dice set bears thefollowing design markings on its die faces: on the first face, one dot;on the second face, the word ‘two’; on the third face, the Arabicnumeral for three; on the fourth face, the Roman numeral for four; onthe fifth face, the Chinese numeral for five; and, on the sixth face,the value six expressed in binary. The second die of the dice set bearsthe following design markings on its die faces: on the first face, thevalue one expressed in binary; on the second face, two dots; on thethird face, the word ‘three’; on the fourth face, the Arabic numeral forfour; on the fifth face, the Roman numeral for five; and, on the sixthface, the Chinese numeral for six. The third die of the dice set bearsthe following design markings on its die faces: on the first face, theChinese numeral for one; on the second face, the value two expressed inbinary; on the third face, three dots; on the fourth face, the word‘four’; on the fifth face, the Arabic numeral for five; and, on thesixth face, the Roman numeral for six. The fourth die of the dice setbears the following design markings on its die faces: on the first face,the Roman numeral for one; on the second face, the Chinese numeral fortwo; on the third face, the value three expressed in binary; on thefourth face, four dots; on the fifth face, the word ‘five’; and, on thesixth face, the Arabic numeral for six. The fifth die of the dice setbears the following design markings on its die faces: on the first face,the Arabic numeral for one; on the second face, the Roman numeral fortwo; on the third face, the Chinese numeral for three; on the fourthface, the value four expressed in binary; on the fifth face, five dots;and, on the sixth face, the word ‘six’. The sixth die of the dice setbears the following design markings on its die faces: on the first face,the word ‘one’; on the second face, the Arabic numeral for two; on thethird face, the Roman numeral for three; on the fourth face, the Chinesenumeral for four; on the fifth face, the value five expressed as binary;and, on the sixth face, six dots.

FIG. 5 shows a representation of a fifth embodiment. In this embodiment,the dice set consists of four dice. These dice are regular octahedronswith eight die faces. The first design marking attribute R is numeraland the second design marking attribute S is face color. The firstattribute values are R={1, 2, 3, 4}, and the second attribute values areS={color A, color B, color C, color D}. From the four values of thefirst attribute series and the four values of the second attributeseries, sixteen different die face design markings are formed bycombining one of the four values of the first attribute series with oneof the four values of the second attribute series. These sixteendifferent die face design markings are distributed on the faces of thedice as follows. The first die of the dice set bears the followingdesign markings on its die faces: on the first and sixth faces, numeral1 on face of color A; on the second and fifth faces, numeral 2 on faceof color B; on the third and eighth faces, numeral 3 on face of color C;and, on the fourth and seventh faces, numeral 4 on face of color D. Thesecond die of the dice set bears the following design markings on itsdie faces: on the first and sixth faces, numeral 1 on face of color B;on the second and fifth faces, numeral 2 on face of color C; on thethird and eighth faces, numeral 3 on face of color D; and, on the fourthand seventh faces, numeral 4 on face of color A. The third die of thedice set bears the following design markings on its die faces: on thefirst and sixth faces, numeral 1 on face of color C; on the second andfifth faces, numeral 2 on face of color D; on the third and eighthfaces, numeral 3 on face of color A; and, on the fourth and seventhfaces, numeral 4 on face of color B. The fourth die of the dice setbears the following design markings on its die faces: on the first andsixth faces, numeral 1 on face of color D; on the second and fifthfaces, numeral 2 on face of color A; on the third and eighth faces,numeral 3 on face of color B; and, on the fourth and seventh faces,numeral 4 on face of color C. Colors A, B, C and D may be red, yellow,green, and blue, respectively.

FIG. 6 shows a representation of a sixth embodiment. In this embodiment,the dice set consists of five dice. These dice have cubic shapes withsix die faces. The first design marking attribute R is symbol shape andthe second design marking attribute S is symbol color. The firstattribute values are R={first shape, second shape, third shape, fourthshape, fifth shape}, and the second attribute values are S={color A,color B, color C, color D, color E}. From the five values of the firstattribute series and the five values of the second attribute series,twenty-five different primary die face design markings are formed bycombining one of the five values of the first attribute series with oneof the five values of the second attribute series. These twenty-fivedifferent primary die face design markings and five instances of acommon secondary die face marking, shield, are distributed on the facesof the dice as follows. The first die of the dice set bears thefollowing design markings on its die faces: on the first face, firstshape of color A; on the second face, second shape of color E; on thethird face, third shape of color D; on the fourth face, fourth shape ofcolor C; on the fifth face, fifth shape of color B; and, on the sixthface, shield. The second die of the dice set bears the following designmarkings on its die faces: on the first face, first shape of color B; onthe second face, second shape of color A; on the third face, third shapeof color E; on the fourth face, fourth shape of color D; on the fifthface, fifth shape of color C; and, on the sixth face, shield. The thirddie of the dice set bears the following design markings on its diefaces: on the first face, first shape of color C; on the second face,second shape of color B; on the third face, third shape of color A; onthe fourth face, fourth shape of color E; on the fifth face, fifth shapeof color D; and, on the sixth face, shield. The fourth die of the diceset bears the following design markings on its die faces: on the firstface, first shape of color D; on the second face, second shape of colorC; on the third face, third shape of color B; on the fourth face, fourthshape of color A; on the fifth face, fifth shape of color E; and, on thesixth face, shield. The fifth die of the dice set bears the followingdesign markings on its die faces: on the first face, first shape ofcolor E; on the second face, second shape of color D; on the third face,third shape of color C; on the fourth face, fourth shape of color B; onthe fifth face, fifth shape of color A; and, on the sixth face, shield.Colors A, B, C, D and E may be red, yellow, green, blue and purple,respectively.

FIG. 7 shows a representation of a seventh embodiment. In thisembodiment, the dice set consists of four dice. These dice have cubicshapes with six die faces. The first design marking attribute R isnumber of dots and the second design marking attribute S is color ofdots. The first attribute values are R={one dot, two dots, three dots,four dots}, and the second attribute values are S={color A, color B,color C, color D}. From the four values of the first attribute seriesand the four values of the second attribute series, sixteen differentprimary die face design markings are formed by combining one of the fourvalues of the first attribute series with one of the four values of thesecond attribute series. These sixteen different primary die face designmarkings, four instances of a first common secondary die face marking,dollar symbol, and four instances of a second common secondary die facemarking, skull and crossbones symbol, are distributed on the faces ofthe dice as follows. The first die of the dice set bears the followingdesign markings on its die faces: on the first face, one dot of color A;on the second face, two dots of color B; on the third face, three dotsof color C; on the fourth face, four dots of color D; on the fifth face,dollar symbol; and, on the sixth face, skull and crossbones symbol. Thesecond die of the dice set bears the following design markings on itsdie faces: on the first face, one dot of color D; on the second face,two dots of color A; on the third face, three dots of color B; on thefourth face, four dots of color C; on the fifth face, dollar symbol;and, on the sixth face, skull and crossbones symbol. The third die ofthe dice set bears the following design markings on its die faces: onthe first face, one dot of color C; on the second face, two dots ofcolor D; on the third face, three dots of color A; on the fourth face,four dots of color B; on the fifth face, dollar symbol; and, on thesixth face, skull and crossbones symbol. The fourth die of the dice setbears the following design markings on its die faces: on the first face,one dot of color B; on the second face, two dots of color C; on thethird face, three dots of color D; on the fourth face, four dots ofcolor A; on the fifth face, dollar symbol; and, on the sixth face, skulland crossbones symbol. Colors A, B, C and D may be red, yellow, green,and blue, respectively.

The dice sets of the first, second and third embodiments have the samefunctionality and may be used in poker-related or Yacht-like games. Thedice may be rolled according to a variety of game rules. For example,the entire set of dice may be rolled on the first roll, and then subsetsof the dice are selected for subsequent second and third rolls. The goalof these type of games would be to achieve the best poker-type hand,including straight flush, flush, straight, pairs, triples,four-of-a-kind, etc. When playing variations such as seven card stud andTexas hold-em, poker hands are evaluated based on the best five cards,so these dice games may analogously use ‘best five dice’ evaluationrules.

These embodiments may also be used in dice games that mimiccard-shedding games, such as crazy eights and Uno™ (Mattel). In suchgames, the dice would be rolled to form sequences in which adjacent diceshare an attribute element, such as a color or numeric value. The goalof such games would be to assemble the longest possible sequences.

Multiple sets of dice of the first, second and third embodiments mayalso be used in dice games that mimic trick-taking card games, such asEuchre or hearts. In such games, each player would have a set of dice.These dice sets may have another attribute, such as body color, so as toeasily distinguish each players' dice. These games may involve picking atrump suit and following suit during a trick. The highest ranking die,determined by the rules, would take each trick. The goal of such gamesis to take or avoid tricks or points.

The fifth embodiment, with a smaller number of dice, may be used insimpler versions of the same games as the first, second and thirdembodiments.

The dice set of the sixth embodiment may be combined with an additionaltwo dice for a novel type of dice game. Each of the two additionalsix-sided dice would have face design markings formed from the values ofeach of the two attribute series. The first additional die would havethe first attribute series, symbol shape, expressed in a neutral color,as the design markings. The second additional die would have simple facedesign markings to indicate the color values of the second attributeseries. Both of the additional dice may have the same common face designmarking, namely the shield. Rolling the two attribute series dicedetermines which face design markings of the dice set of the sixthembodiment represent positive points, and which represent negativepoints. The shield design markings may represent a neutral outcome,resulting in zero points. The goal of such a game would be to maximizethe outcome point value of the rolled dice of the sixth embodiment in acertain number of rolls.

The dice set of the seventh embodiment may be used for another noveltype of dice game. Each player would have a dice set of this embodiment.These dice sets may have another attribute, such as body color, so as toeasily distinguish each players' dice. In turn, the players roll theirdice one or more times to achieve the best result. The skull andcrossbones may require players to add chips to a common bank, while themoney symbol would allow players to take chips from this bank. Theplayer with the best ‘hand’ formed by the colored dots would receive abonus, such as chips equivalent to all players' money symbols. The goalof such a game would be to have the most chips at the game's end.

RAMIFICATIONS AND SCOPE

Accordingly, the reader will see that the dual attribute dice of thevarious embodiments may be used to provide balanced outcome statisticsfor a variety of dice games, including games that are analogs tobest-hand or poker-like, card-shedding and trick-taking card games aswell as novel types of dice games.

Attribute types that may be used include, but are not limited to:playing card rank, color, playing card suit, numerical value, quantity,numeral, roman numeral, font, expression form, shape, symbol, language,and pattern. In addition to visual attribute types, an attribute seriesmay be composed of any group of attribute values that the usersrecognize as having a logical connection. The dice set of the fourthembodiment is comprised of an attribute series for which the values aredifferent means of expressing numerical values.

The design markings incorporated into the several embodiments may betrademarked or copyrighted and the embodiments may be used as materialfor commercial promotion. A couple of examples serve to illustrate therange of possible attribute types as well as use in commercialpromotion. The first example is a set of five six-sided dice similar tothe sixth embodiment with a first attribute type ‘city with a team fromeach of five professional sports leagues’ and a second attribute type‘professional sports team logo’ with the values: football team logo,baseball team logo, basketball team logo, hockey team logo, and soccerteam logo. The common design marking is the logo of a sports equipmentcompany. Such an embodiment would have the same game functionality asthe sixth embodiment, but it would also serve a commercial promotionalpurpose as well. Similarly, such a dice set could have a first attributeset of university and a second attribute set of university identifierwith values: university name, football helmet graphic, sports team logo,sports team nickname, sports team motto. The common design marking maybe the logo of a college football conference.

Anyone familiar with the art will recognize that all of the severalembodiments may be implemented as machine equivalents in digital gamingdevices, including, but not limited to electronic video game devices,computers, and hand-held video devices. Any of the several embodimentsmay be used as elements in games that include elements such as cards,chips, game tokens, game boards, tiles as well as other game elements.

Although the description above contains many specificities, these shouldnot be construed as limiting the scope of the embodiments but as merelyproviding illustrations of some of several embodiments.

Thus the scope of the embodiments should be determined by the appendedclaims and their legal equivalents, rather than by the examples given.

1. A set of N game dice: each die having at least N faces; each face ofa multiple of N faces of each die bearing a design marking selected froma group of N² primary design markings; said group of N² primary designmarkings formed by combining each of N values of a first design markingattribute series with each of N values of a second design markingattribute series; said group of N² primary design markings split into Nsubgroups of N primary design markings; such that each of the N valuesof said first design marking attribute series comprises one of the Nprimary design markings of each of the N subgroups and each of the Nvalues of said second design marking attribute series comprises one ofthe N primary design markings of each of the N subgroups; each saidsubgroup of N primary design markings borne by the faces of a differentdie of said dice set; each of the N primary design markings of saidsubgroup borne by the same multiple of faces of said die.
 2. The machineequivalent of the game dice as in claim 1 on one or more of thefollowing devices: electronic video game machines, mechanical gamemachines, computers, hand-held mechanical devices, and hand-held videodevices.
 3. The game dice as in claim 1, wherein each die has N facesand each face of each die bears a different primary design marking. 4.The machine equivalent of the game dice as in claim 3 used on one ormore of the following devices: electronic video game machines,mechanical game machines, computers, hand-held mechanical devices, andhand-held video devices.
 5. The game dice as in claim 3, wherein it is aset of six dice and each die has six faces.
 6. The game dice as in claim5, wherein the first design marking attribute type is quantity of dotsand the second design marking attribute type is color of dots.
 7. Thegame dice as in claim 5, wherein the first design marking attribute typeis numeral and the second design marking attribute type is color of dieface.
 8. The game dice as in claim 5, wherein the first design markingattribute type is playing card rank and the second design markingattribute type is playing card suit.
 9. The machine equivalent of thegame dice as in claim 5 used on one or more of the following devices:electronic video game machines, mechanical game machines, computers,hand-held mechanical devices, and hand-held video devices.
 10. The gamedice as in claim 1, wherein each die has 2N faces and two faces of eachdie bear the same primary design marking.
 11. The game dice as in claim10, wherein it is a set of five dice and each die has ten faces.
 12. Thegame dice as in claim 10, wherein it is a set of four dice and each diehas eight faces.
 13. The game dice as in claim 10, wherein it is a setof three dice and each die has six faces.
 14. The game dice as in claim1, wherein: each of the N dice has P faces and P is larger than N; thefirst N faces of each of the N dice bear a design marking from saidgroup of N² primary design markings; each of the remaining P-N faces ofeach die bears a secondary design marking with attributes different fromthe elements of said first and second design marking attribute series.15. The machine equivalent of the game dice as in claim 14 used on oneor more of the following devices: electronic video game machines,mechanical game machines, computers, hand-held mechanical devices, andhand-held video devices.
 16. The game dice as in claim 14, wherein thesecondary design markings are the same on each die.
 17. The machineequivalent of the game dice as in claim 16 used on one or more of thefollowing devices: electronic video game machines, mechanical gamemachines, computers, hand-held mechanical devices, and hand-held videodevices.
 18. The game dice as in claim 16, wherein it is a set of fivedice and each die has six faces.
 19. The game dice as in claim 18,wherein the first design marking attribute type is shape, the seconddesign marking attribute type is shape color, and the secondary designmarking is a shield.
 20. The game dice as in claim 16, wherein it is aset of four dice and each die has six faces.
 21. The game dice as inclaim 20, wherein the first design marking attribute type is quantity ofdots, the second design marking attribute type is color of dots, a firstsecondary design marking is money symbol, and a second secondary designmarking is skull and crossbones.